Growing small businesses in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Goatfeathers Point Farm is among nine Countryside Initiative farms in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park.

A summer morning at one of Countryside Conservancy’s farmers markets can make you glad to be an Ohioan. Strolling through rows of vendors in the open air, you can participate in cooking programs and enjoy food competitions while buying every item in your family’s meal plan knowing it came from local growers.

“The farmers markets are all about the local food system,” said Brian Reitz, Countryside Conservancy development director. “You’re supporting that community-based agriculture system.”

So far, so good. The first Countryside farmers market launched in 2004. Countryside now has three active markets, and revenues for the past two years from them collectively have exceeded $1 million. The Howe Meadow and Highland Square markets run May through October, and Old Trail School’s indoor market runs November through April. All offer fresh, sustainably produced fruits, vegetables, jams, bread, honey, cheeses and other foods that give farm-to-table food enthusiasts a reason to feast.

Although farmers markets are popping up around the country as the farm-to-table movement gains ground, Countryside Conservancy’s markets are truly the fruit of a unique backstory. They represent the sweat equity of several tiny local farms working to be profitable in conjunction with the National Park Service and the Cuyahoga Valley National Park’s efforts to preserve the valley’s historic homesteads. The Countryside Conservancy is the nonprofit established in 1999 to oversee this unique partnership, which doesn’t exist in any other national park in the U.S.

Real small businesses

Countryside Initiative program’s farms are, in essence, small businesses and are required by the park service to use sustainable practices, whether they farm berries, goats, pumpkins or chickens. Farming is no easy trade, and like any other small business, many of them fail.

“The nice thing about this program is it’s a safety net,” said Tracy Emrick, Countryside’s core partnership manager.

Among her duties, Emrick provides agricultural guidance and resources to help the farmers and the park.

“They’re not penalized if they don’t have a good year,” she said. “They have amazing access to direct market, and they get free marketing from Countryside and the park service.”

Even so, the park service owns the properties, but the farmers own their businesses and, with support from Countryside, it’s firmly on their shoulders to make them successful. It seems to be working. Like the farmers markets, the program’s farms in 2015 also reached a milestone when their combined revenue exceeded $1 million.

Most farms sell their goods on-site, as well as at the farmers markets. But make no mistake: These are working farms that enjoy good years and bad, and they must face destructive insects, invasive weeds and unpredictable weather.

“One of the purposes of the program is that they are commercial farms; they’re not hobby farmers,” Emrick said. “If they’re financially viable, then they’ll be able to maintain that property and that’s the purpose of the program — to protect that resource for the park service.”

Time to grow

Currently, nine initiative farms are in full swing, with two new leases soon to be announced. Each farm takes on a 60-year lease and pays leasing fees based on fair-market value of the property, minus a percentage for living in a national park and complying with the many regulations that come along with it.

Initiative farms also pay business fees based on a percentage of their gross revenue. The fees graduate from 1% to 10% over 10 years to allow for startup costs and time to produce marketable goods. All the fees go to the National Park Service for maintenance of the properties. A separate, federal fund is in place to maintain the properties’ structural needs, such as roofing, cladding and foundations, as part of the preservation plan.

Spice Farms, one of the initiative farms, raises laying hens and pigs, and farms a variety of unique and heirloom vegetables. It operates the farm and the Spice Kitchen + Bar restaurant in Cleveland’s Gordon Square Arts District. It also developed the Spice Acres Field Kitchen, an educational program for schools that offers tours and workshops focusing on connecting soil health to personal wellness.

Although the farm is run as a business, Spice Acres’ Ben Bebenroth views the mission as much more.

“By deepening the connections to our food system and soil, the Spice companies are not just setting out to make a few dollars off of the land in the CVNP,” he said. “We’re changing the way people think about food, family and the environment that creates our community.”

But Spice Acres’ start was challenging.

“Our first year of operation was very scattered and lacked accountability and measurable deliverables,” Bebenroth said. “We decided to rebuild the team from the ground up and invest even further into the operating budget and labor allotment, making the farm manager position year-round.”

It was a targeted approach that supported a solid schedule for planting and harvesting. To date, Spice Acres has earned more than $100,000 to fund coordination of the farm with the restaurant and a catering company.

“This has required great analysis of our purchasing, and timing of seeding and deliveries, to guarantee the freshest and best quality products getting into the hands of our chefs at the optimum times,” he said.

Tools to succeed

“It’s just like any business,” said Emrick, who teaches several classes through Countryside’s educational arm, Countryside U. “It’s about management, planning, recordkeeping and business marketing. It’s typical business 101.”

Countryside U’s educational programs are for anyone interested in farming as a business. Partnering with entities such as the Summit County and Ohio State University farm bureaus, and Kent State University’s Geauga viticulture program for winemakers, Countryside U classes cover everything from “exploring the small farm dream” to “livestock pasturing” to “starting with sheep.”

Countryside Conservancy also hosts local pop-up markets, working with individuals or nonprofits to launch neighborhood markets that can in time become self-sustaining. With the help of such local entities as Let’s Grow Akron, Countryside’s goal is to have small markets up and running every year.

“We provide support and training for three years, and help recruit the farm vendors,” Reitz said. “It’s too early to tell whether the programs will work, but it’s an attempt to work toward growing the local food-access system.”